Washington, D.C., workers who take paid time off to care for a seriously ill relative will have half as many weeks of coverage starting Oct. 1. Family leave under the District’s Universal Paid Leave program falls to six weeks from 12, and the maximum weekly benefit for every claim type drops to $1,100 from $1,190. Medical leave for a worker’s own condition also shortens, to 10 weeks from 12. For caregivers of aging parents and spouses, the change turns a three-month cushion into a six-week one.
The Oct. 1 changes, benefit by benefit
The District’s Office of Paid Family Leave lays out the changes on its 2026 program updates page. The maximum weekly benefit becomes $1,100 from $1,190. Medical leave falls from 12 weeks to 10, family leave from 12 weeks to six, while parental leave stays at 12 weeks and prenatal leave at two. The page says the program remains fully employer-funded with no payroll deductions from workers, and that sliding-scale wage replacement of up to 90 percent is unchanged. Its legal source is the Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Support Act of 2026, Bill 26-661, which the Council passed on final reading July 7, 2026.
What the lower cap and shorter leave do to the largest possible payout
The office’s home page repeats the headline number: “The Maximum Weekly Benefit Amount for all claim types will be $1,100.” Arithmetic on the published figures shows the ceiling on what a claimant can collect. At the cap, 12 weeks of family leave was worth up to $14,280 (12 times $1,190). Six weeks at $1,100 is worth up to $6,600, a reduction of $7,680. For a worker’s own medical leave, 12 weeks at the old cap was up to $14,280 and 10 weeks at the new cap is up to $11,000, a reduction of $3,280. Because the office describes wage replacement as a sliding scale of up to 90 percent, workers whose pay puts them below the cap feel little of the lower weekly figure, but the shorter duration applies to every claimant.
Who is covered and who is left out
Under the office’s application guidance, an applicant must work in the District for a private-sector employer subject to the paid-leave tax and have a qualifying event, such as pregnancy care, a new child, a serious health condition or a family member’s care needs. The page excludes federal government employees, D.C. government employees, WMATA workers and workers at religious institutions. The change therefore lands on people still working, including those in their 50s and 60s who are also looking after a parent or spouse.
An earlier version of the budget bill cut deeper
A harsher plan was on the table in the spring. An April 13 fiscal impact statement from the Office of the Chief Financial Officer analyzed a version of the Budget Support Act that would have capped the weekly benefit at $1,000, limited medical leave to eight weeks and stopped payments on medical and family leave claims filed in fiscal year 2027. The Office of Paid Family Leave’s current pages describe the changes as enacted differently: a $1,100 cap, 10 weeks of medical leave and six weeks of family leave.
Old numbers still appear on a general District page
Readers searching for the rules may run into the older figures. A general Department of Employment Services page still lists benefit durations as of Oct. 1, 2022: two weeks for pregnancy, 12 weeks to bond with a new child, 12 weeks to care for a family member with a serious health condition and 12 weeks for a worker’s own serious health condition. That page says nothing of the 2026 changes and gives a phone number of (202) 724-7000, while the Office of Paid Family Leave’s own pages carry the new limits.
Employer-side commentary matches the office’s numbers. Fisher Phillips attorneys, in a Sept. 18 cheat sheet on October workplace laws, list the D.C. reductions to the $1,100 cap, 10 weeks of medical leave and six weeks of family leave, and note that the employer contribution continues at 0.75 percent of covered wages.
Filing a claim while the new limits take effect
The application guidance says claims are filed through an online benefits portal, or by calling the contact center at (202) 899-3700, and that the Office of Paid Family Leave will contact an applicant within 10 business days of submission. Claims require forms that vary by leave type, including a general claim form (PFL-1), a parental leave form (PFL-2), a medical certification form (PFL-MMC), a family medical certification form (PFL-FMC) and a certification of family relationship (PFL-FR). A claim cannot be filed until after the qualifying event has occurred.
The program updates page does not say whether a claim begun before Oct. 1 keeps the old limits, and the office’s contact center at (202) 899-3700 is the source to ask for a claim already in progress.
Protecting benefit deposits from a frozen or garnished account
Older adults who live on benefit payments and modest savings can find a bank account frozen or garnished when a creditor or debt collector acts. Federal benefits carry protection from garnishment, but the protection has to be demonstrated before the money moves.
The Bank Account & Debt Protection Kit includes the 2-month bank protection rule, the frozen-account response and a protected-funds and dispute log.
See the debt-validation steps in The Bank Account & Debt Protection Kit.
This article was produced with AI assistance and checked against the primary sources linked above.
David M. Keller is a finance writer based in Columbus, Ohio, covering personal finance and consumer-focused economic topics. He earned his degree in journalism from Ohio University and began his career reporting on local business and economic trends for a regional media outlet. Since then, he has contributed to a variety of online publications, focusing on clear, practical coverage of topics such as cost of living, debt, and everyday financial decision-making.
